Sans rien

Paul F.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Sans rien

Sans rien - “without nothing“. In English this would be a double negative and would therefore theoretically mean “with something”.  But in French would we always say “sans rien” or could we also say “avec rien”? 

This question relates to:French dictation exercise "A very specific order"

Dictation exercise B1

Asked 4 years ago
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CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Paul, 

Correct me if I am wrong but I always thought that

sans rien

would be

without  anything

in English 

meaning -

with nothing added to it?

You would not say 'avec rien' in French.

Bonne Continuation! 

Like14 years ago
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Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

French is full of double negatives. In fact, the standard way of negating something is by doing it twice: ne..pas, ne..jamais, ne..rien. So sans rien shouldn't be too much of a surprise.

Like34 years ago
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Paul F. asked:View original

Sans rien

Sans rien - “without nothing“. In English this would be a double negative and would therefore theoretically mean “with something”.  But in French would we always say “sans rien” or could we also say “avec rien”? 

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